At Last
by sarcasticherondale
Summary: It had been exactly 349 days since accident and since Jace moved away. Suddenly Clary got a text from Izzy telling that Jace was coming home. Clary would have to deal with the effects of the accident. Old feelings are coming up and untold stories are going to be uncovered. Can Clary handle facing it all again or will she have to run away like Jace did? AU/AH/Some OOC
1. Chapter 1: Beginning

Chapter One:

Clary was lying on her bed at ten at night and was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram when a notification from Izzy popped up. She sat up on the bed and read the text.

 _Call me_

She immediately switched from Instagram to FaceTime and called Izzy. It didn't take more than a few seconds until the call had already connected and Clary could see Izzy's make up free face on her screen.

"What's going on?" Clary asked confused staring at her screen. Izzy seemed like she just came out of the shower.

"Haven't you heard yet? Jace is coming home tomorrow", she responded.

Immediately Clary's face went white and she dropped the phone on her lap. He wasn't supposed to come home for another four weeks. Clary was sitting on the bed in shock and was trying to process what Izzy just said. Izzy kept calling Clary's name asking if she was still there. Startled, Clary picked up the phone again and told Izzy that she would call her later and hung up. She fell on her back on the bed and stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours.

Jace had moved to Texas last fall because of a scholarship he got. He was one of the most successful soccer players in his age-group. He has been playing for as long as Clary can remember. She remembered when she and Izzy were little and they would be playing by the side of the field waiting for Alec's, Jace's and Jonathan's practice to be done. Their parents were always so supportive of the boy's hobby that they would drag the girls to every single practice and game the boys had. Clary's mom Jocelyn was the only one who wasn't pushing the girls to play soccer themselves. Clary still did play for almost seven years until she quit because of the accident.

Suddenly a piercing bang could be heard from downstairs. She quickly checked the time: 12:30 AM. Loud thuds could be heard as someone was walking up the stairs. _Oh shit_ , Clary thought as she quickly hid her phone under her pillow and turned off the lamp by the nightstand. She turned to her side so her back was facing the door and pretended to be asleep as the door swung open.

"Clarissa Morgenstern I know you are still awake" Valentine said and walked over to my bed. He grabbed my blanket and ripped it off the bed revealing me in my pajamas. He then proceeded to grab my pillow and yanked it from under my head. He then found what he was looking for. He grabbed my phone and held it up high.

"Didn't we agree on no phones in the room at night?" he asked raising one eyebrow. I turned on my other side to see his expression. He was smirking. _Thank god_ Clary thought to herself _._ Him smirking meant that he wasn't actually mad.

"I'm sorry! It's all Izzy's fault anyway. She called me and I had to answer or she would have walked all the way over here to tell me- ," I realized what I had said and quickly shut up.

"Tell what?"

"Nothing"

"So technically she wouldn't have walked over here if it really was 'nothing'

"I mean- well-" I couldn't form an argument against that logic.

"Clarissa I am very disappointed in you. No laptop in your room for a week."

"But dad! I'm an adult! You can't control me anymore. I'm moving out this week for college anyway. I need my laptop for that!"

"As long as you are living under my roof, you have to live by my rules!"

"Okayy" I groaned. "But can you please leave now? I really need some sleep now. Why were you being so loud when you came anyway? Are you mad about something?"

"Quit asking questions and go to sleep. We'll talk in the morning. And by the way, I'm taking this," he said holding up my phone as he walked out of the room.

"And close the door!" I yelled but of course he left it open. I groaned again, climbed out of my bed, walked across the room just to close the door and climbed back to bed.

I couldn't fall asleep again. I kept thinking about why dad was so mad and why Jace was coming back early. I kept thinking about the accident and everything it affected. It was well past 4 AM when I finally fell asleep again.


	2. Chapter 2: Departure and arrival

**A/N:**

 **Hello hello hello! Sorry for no A/N on the last chapter, the chapter didn't even have a name. It was very short but I was so excited about starting this story I couldn't wait! I'm still kind of new to all this so my updating schedule may be bad. I'll try to post at least once a week, but since school and all it might take me longer. The story's name might change later and if you have any suggestions for it please let me know. Also, if I have anything I could improve or fix, please review and let me know! I have multiple ways this story can go and I still haven't decided on one so it might seem a little confusing right now but I promise, It will get better! Now onward to the actual story...**

Chapter two: The departure and the arrival

Jace's POV

Jace was throwing his clothes from his closet onto the floor. He then proceeded to start folding them into his suitcase. After a few hours he was finally done packing. He was so ready to leave this shit hole, though he didn't really want to go home either. What was waiting for him there was something he was definitely not prepared for. Seeing Isabelle and Alec was going to be hard but what was going to be even harder was seeing Clary. Since the accident he had thought about her every single night. Not like he already didn't before the accident. Going back was going to be hell.

The realness of everything really hit him once he had gone through airport security. There's no going back now is there _,_ he thought to himself. Once he got to the gate he heard an announcement:

"Flight 2273 to JFK, New York will be boarding late. Current prediction to when boarding will start is at 14:35"

Great. This is exactly what I need. An hour delay _,_ Jace thought _._ He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and sent Robert a quick message:

 _Boarding an hour late. Don't bother being early._

Jace was already stressed out about meeting his adoptive family again but this just made everything so much worse. An older woman next to him walked up to the counter and started complaining to the lady working there.

"I'm sorry but all other flights are fully booked. You'll just have to wait for your flight to come. We are working on making it as fast as we can," the lady at the counter replied.

This is going to be a long flight, and I'm not even on the plane yet,Jace thought. He found a place to sit and fiddled with his phone on his hand. He was so nervous. He wasn't used to being nervous. He was Jace Herondale for fucks sake. The best soccer player in the whole of Texas. The hottest guy in his college. Well at least he was, until he decided to transfer back to the college in New York. The Institution. It also had a good soccer-program and he really missed the city. But that wasn't the biggest reason he decided to go back. He went back for Clary.

After a long-ass flight Jace had finally landed at JFK. After the baggage claim he walked through the gates and started to search for familiar faces. He almost immediately spotted Alec's piercing blue eyes. Alec's hair was a mess and his face looked sad. He was still staring at the gate behind Jace. He was wearing a large, baggy sweatshirt and black ripped skinny jeans. Next to him stood Isabelle, gorgeous as ever. She was wearing shiny black boots with four inch heels.

Her black skirt hugged her body. Her top was a red crop top and she was wearing a leather jacket over it. Then next to Isabelle stood Robert who was staring Jace straight in the eye. His dark blue eyes matched his dark blue tie he was wearing with a suit. He started walking towards Jace and held out his arm. Jace grabbed his hand and shook it.

"I'm glad you're back," Robert said.

"Well I'm glad to be back," Jace replied with a fake smile. He wasn't exactly lying but he wasn't really telling the truth either. Was he glad to be back? Or was he lying to himself? His thought was cut off when Robert coughed. Jace realized he was still holding Roberts hand and immediately let go.

"Thank you for coming to pick me up," Jace thanked.

"Sure," Alec replied, though it seemed he didn't really mean it. Isabelle and Alec were just standing there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do next. Jace grabbed his luggage and started walking to them.

"Shall we go?" he asked, faking a fancy British accent.

"Yeah whatever," Alec shrugged and started walking to the car.

"Where's Max by the way?" Jace asked curiously as he noticed he didn't see the small boy anywhere. He thought he would come with to the airport.

"He isn't feeling so well so he stayed at home," Isabelle said. That was the first thing she'd said since Jace arrived. Something in her voice told him that she wasn't telling the truth. It was odd. Max barely got sick and when he did it only was the flu. Huh.

The car ride was long and awkward. Nobody said a word. Robert tried to make small talk with Alec who was sitting next to the driver's seat, but he only replied with short words or shrugs. When they finally arrived, Jace was relieved to get out of the car. The tension was so thick between everyone in it could be cut with a knife. When they got in the house it was silent.

"Maryse! Max! We're home!" Robert yelled and Jace heard footsteps coming from the hallway on the floor up. Maryse was walking down the stairs wearing a black skirt, top and jacket. Her face brightened up as she saw Jace and she walked over to give him a hug. Jace looked at her in the eye and swore he saw a flash of sadness in her look before she looked away.

"Jace! How was your flight? Oh how I've missed you!" Maryse has been the only one not acting differently or weird after the accident. She still loved Jace. Jace was her (adoptive) son after all.

"Let me help carry your luggage back to your room," she said.

"No need to do that, Jace will be moving back to campus tonight. It's easier now when everything is already packed," Alec said sternly. His voice was cold. Too cold. Something was wrong.

"What's going on?" I asked confused "Where's Max?" I still hadn't seen him and I knew he would be excited to see me again. Isabelle and Maryse shared a look and they both looked worried. Alec just seemed to get angrier and Robert was muttering something to himself.

"Where is Max? What are you hiding?" I asked again. I was getting impatient. I didn't like it when people kept things from me.

"Max is- he's-" Isabelle stuttered.

"Max is in his room," Alec cut in and dropped his look to the floor.

Jace let go of his luggage and ran up the stairs and down the hallway straight to Max's room. Max was lying on the bed in the middle of the room, breathing steadily, fast asleep. Jace walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed.

Izzy's POV

Isabelle walked up to the room but didn't come in. She stood by the frame of the door and watched Jace take Max's small hand in his.

"Why is he already in bed? And why were the lights on?" Jace asked, lifting up his gaze from his and Max's hand to meet Isabelle's eyes. He looked so sad and confused. That was new to Isabelle. He wasn't used to seeing Jace this vulnerable.

"He got in a fight in school yesterday and hasn't woken up since. We didn't want to leave him to a hospital so we took him back home. Dr. Bane has been coming here to check up on him once in a while. He had a bad concussion because he hit his head on a table while fighting and he went unconscious. He should be awake by tomorrow and back to normal in a few days."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we didn't want to ruin your last day back in Texas."

"But you still should have told me," Jace said. Isabelle could hear the hurt in his words.

All of a sudden she became furious. Why was Jace being hurt? He had no right after everything. He was the one who left us for a whole year. He was the one who left us to deal with the aftermath of the accident and to take care of Clary. He was the asshole in this situation, not Izzy.

"We would have told you if you had asked. But you didn't. You ran away and barely kept contact while we had to deal with everything that was going on!" The words spilled out of Izzy's mouth. She wasn't supposed to say that. Instantly Jace had his guards back up and he straightened his posture. His face was impossible to read.

"I'm sorry Jace, I know it's been hard on you as well. I just- sometimes I wished you hadn't ran away."

"I didn't run away. I got a scholarship and I had to take it," Jace responded, his face still blank.

"Yes you did run away. You got a bunch of other scholarships but this one was the furthest away. Why did you come back anyway?"

Jace's posture stiffened and he stood up. That was clearly the wrong thing to ask.

"I have to go. It's getting late and I still have to drive all the way to campus. I'll talk to you later," Jace said quickly and left the room, brushing past Isabelle. A moment later a loud bang could be heard when he left and closed the door behind him. Isabelle sighed and walked back to her own room and continued packing. She was moving to the same campus as Jace as she is majoring in fashion design in the same college. She, Jace and Alec would all be in the same college, living on the same campus. And Clary as well. God she missed Clary. It just hasn't been the same between the two of them since the accident. She hoped everything would get back to normal when the semester started in a few weeks. She really hoped so. But since Jace was back, she knew it wouldn't.

 **A/N**

 **Please review! I would love to hear you guys thoughts on everything! Also, tell me your predictions on what will happen and what -the accident- is! Don't worry, everything will come uncovered soon enough (; Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3: Taki's

**A/N**

 **Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed the story. I'll quickly answer some reviews:**

sw1fan: Thank you for being so excited! I am happy that you found it intruding.

Guest: Thank you for the compliment! I can't wait to write more either!

 **Please, keep rating! That's what keeps me going! I realized that I might need to change the rating of the story to M because of the cursing and some other upcoming stuff.. (; Now onward to the story...**

 **Disclaimer! I do not own the Mortal Instruments. This story is made only for entertainment purposes.**

Clary's POV

It was finally moving day. After what felt like forever packing and cleaning the old room, Clary was finally ready to move to campus. She was going to have dorm with two bedrooms which ment that she would be having a roommate. At the college she's going at, you can't directly choose your roommate, but you can leave a request. Clary has requested for Izzy to be her roommate, even though living with her would be hard. Their friendship hasn't really been the same since the accident.

Clary has been friends with the Lightwoods ever since her mom and dad divorced, which was seven years ago when Clary was eleven. Clary met Alec in the bookstore that Luke owned and they instantly became friends. Clary then one over came over to Alec's place to hang out and met Max. Max was only four when she had first met him. She had taught him how to read manga and what superhero movies were the best.

Later the same day Clary had been introduced to Isabelle. At first, Izzy didn't seem to like Clary at all, but she became to grew on her. They soon became best friends as well. Since the Lightwoods lived nearby, she would come over almost every day. Some days the Lightwoods would come over to Clary's and that's how Alec and Jonathan became friends.

And then there was Jace. From the second Clary saw him, she could tell that he would be the love of her life. Just kidding. Jace was already friends with Jonathan before Clary met the Lightwoods. Because of Jonathan, Clary started playing soccer herself so she had seen Jace and the Lightwoods before. It took her a while to actually get to know them, and that's what happened in the bookstore.

Jace was just Jonathan's cocky, mean, idiot friend. He was hot, of course, everyone could see that but he also was the popular kid in school and in high school he was known to be the one to break a dozen of hearts every single day. He wasn't a manwhore, but he was something like that. When he and Jonathan became best friends he would tease her every time he saw her. Jocelyn would just keep saying that it's because Jace likes Clary but she wouldn't believe it. If only the accident wouldn't have happe-...

"Ready to go?" Valentine asked, stopping Clary's mind from wondering, and Clary turned to see him. He was leaning on the doorframe dressed in work clothes. He would have to leave for work as soon as Clary had moved her stuff out. Her stuff was already packed in the car.

"Yep! Just let me grab a few things," said Clary as she skipped across the room, grabbed her phone and her charger from the wall and took her book from the nightstand. She walked next to Valentine and gave one more look to her almost empty room. Only a few things she had left there. Her old nightstand because she got a new one, her dresser that wouldn't fit in the dorm and a small picture that had her, her mother Jocelyn, her step-father Luke and Jonathan on it. It was too painful to look at it so she thought it would be better to just leave it here. As a reminder where her home used to be.

As soon as Clary opened her dorm's door, a huge cloud of perfume hit her face. Clary started coughing violently and she saw Izzy, who stood by the hallway and was spraying perfume on herself. It smelled strongly of daisies.

"Oh my god Clary! I haven't seen you in a while," Izzy said as she noticed Clary by the door.

"Yeah uh.. Can you not put on this much perfume? I feel like I'm dying." Clary said, but Izzy ignored her.

"What are you doing here?" Izzy asked Clary confused.

"This is my dorm. I'm moving here?" Clary said, but it sounded more like a question.

"But I already have a roommate."

"What do you mean? I was assigned this dorm."

"Well, I think there might be one more bedroom at the end of the hallway. You could go and have a look."

"Yeah there has to be. How do you not know? Haven't you looked around yet?" Clary sounded confused.

"No, I just moved here this morning so I haven't had time to look around," Izzy replied, playing with her hair.

"Oh okay. I'll go and have a look," Clary said, and started walking along the hallway.

"So who's the other roommate then?" She continued while walking.

"This Maia chick. Brown hair and eyes, aethletic body. She seemed very nice. She just left but you'll meet her later."

"Okay. I'll go and unpack now," Clary yelled from the end of the hallway as she found her room. The room was simple. White walls, white ceiling, hardwood floor and a white dresser. She set the boxes from her hands on the floor. She then sprinted back downstairs and carried the rest of the boxes and furniture to her room. Once she was finally done after a few overs, she decided to go out and walk around campus.

The campus has four main buildings where the classes will be held and ten dorm buildings around campus. Her building is near the Sophomore boys building where Simon, her old best friend lives. It is also where Alec and Jace live. Clary wondered around campus until it started raining. She found a good diner called Taki's just next to campus and went inside for shelter. She ordered a latte and sat down on one of the booths. Her mind kept going back to the night of the accident and Jace. She knew she needed to talk to someone. She dug out her phone from her jacket pocket and sent Izzy a quick text.

 _I'm sitting at a diner called Taki's. I really need someone to talk to. Can you meet up here?_

She sat staring at her latte for a while until she heard the door open and close. A soaked Izzy stepped in and walked over to her booth.

"I ran all the way over here in these heels" Izzy said pointing at her heels "so this better be good. What's up?"

"I can't stop thinking about the accident," Clary mumbled.

Izzy was shocked. Clary hasn't mentioned anything about the accident in months and sometimes it feels like she would have forgotten about it. As if.. Izzy was staring at Clary's lowered head with eyes full of sympathy. Izzy really hoped that Clary would finally talk about it. After the accident she just kind of shut herself out and cried for weeks. Izzy was there to comfort her when Simon couldn't come because of his studies. Clary never talked about the accident. She just stayed silent and cried. Isabelle had felt so bad for her. Clary was such a strong person and seeing her so weak felt the worst. Eventually Clary stopped crying and finished high school. The whole summer she only saw her a few times and they didn't hang out as often anymore. She still called her almost every day but it just wasn't the same. She just hoped that she would finally open up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Izzy asked carefully. Clary looked up and met Izzy's eyes. Clary's eyes were filled with tears, ready to be spilled. Clary took her sleeve and wiped them away.

"I think I don't have a choice at this point. Jace is back and I have to face him soon. I think it's best if I clear my mind now, before I have to face him again."

"Then tell me." Izzy said and Clary's thoughts went back to the night.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Don't kill me please! I had planned putting the flashback to the accident to this chapter, but I realized it was going to be really long so I'm doing it on the next chapter. I hope it's going to surprise you. It surprised me at least. I have started writing the next chapter so I will be posting it either tonight or tomorrow.**_

 _ **Please review! Love, your one and only, sarcastic Herondale.**_


	4. Chapter 4: The Accident

**A/N**

 **Sorry for not updating yesterday! I suddenly didn't have any time to write so I had to delay this by a day. But here we are! The flashback to the accident. I am warning you. Some graphic description of an unconscious person will be on this chapter. The subject might be shocking to some people, so if you feel uncomfortable with any of this, you can stop reading. The next chapters won't be this graphic but they might be a little bit dark. I'll put the end of last chapter here so you guys remember where we were at:**

"Do you want to talk about it?" Izzy asked carefully. Clary looked up and met Izzy's eyes. Clary's eyes were filled with tears, ready to be spilled. Clary took her sleeve and wiped them away.

"I think I don't have a choice at this point. Jace is back and I have to face him soon. I think it's best if I clear my mind now, before I have to face him again."

"Then tell me." Izzy said and Clary's thoughts went back to the night.

 _Clary was sitting in the light of a lamp on the edge of the sidewalk. It was her mother's and Luke's wedding and the after party was still going strong. Though Clary wanted to go home. Jace walked out of the building behind Clary where the party was being held. He wasn't drunk, just a little bit tipsy. He sat down next to Clary and started talking._

" _Hey Spitfire" Jace said smirking. Clary's head turned so she was facing Jace. He stared fiercely into her deep emerald eyes and Clary stared at his eyes just as fiercely. Jace's eyes were like a pool of gold. Especially when the moon hovering over them shined straight into his eyes._

" _Hey Goldilocks" Clary responded mimicking the smirk Jace had on his face._

" _Enjoyed the party?" Jace asked, running his hand through his beautiful, golden locks he called hair. They were so shiny and soft, Clary just wanted to hip her hands in them, grab them, pull and crash those smirking lips onto hers. But she didn't. Instead, she replied._

" _It's been ok. I'm just super tired and want to go home."_

" _Do you want me to walk you home?" Jace asked._

" _No, you can stay and enjoy the party. I don't live far away," Clary muttered._

" _I know where you live Clary we're practically neighbors and I've known you for forever," Jace chuckled. "I'll walk you home." This time it was not a question. Jace stood up and reached his hand out so Clary could grab it and he pulled Clary up. Once she was up, she didn't let go of Jace's hand. They begun walking towards Clary's house hand in hand._

" _So, what scholarship are you taking?" asked Clary._

" _I have no idea. Probably something near here so I can still visit my family..." and you, Clary, Jace thought. He and Clary had always had a weird relationship. They have always been friends, even when Jace was younger he used to tease Clary a lot. Once puberty hit them both, there's always been something between them but they never did anything about it. Jace knew she loved her and hoped she loved him back. Clary knew she loved Jace and hoped he loved her back. But neither of them never said anything about it, never acted on it and never ever talked about it. Both of them wanted to talk about it, but the fear of change was the one keeping them back. Also Jonathan. He was Jace's best friend and it had always been clear that you do not touch the best friends sister. Neither of them wanted to hurt Jonathan so they continued ignoring their feelings._

 _Jace and Clary continued their conversation until they reached Clary's porch. Jace turned to face Clary, their fingers still intertwined. Once again he found himself staring into those familiar emerald eyes. Clary returned the look intensely. Neither of them said a word. They just enjoyed each-others company before they had to part again. And suddenly, something was happening. Out of the blue, Clary reached in and grabbed Jace's shirt from the front and pulled him flush against herself. She crashed her beautiful lips against Jace's and soon they were kissing. Clary and Jace. Kissing! This was so new for the both of them, they were both blown away by the surprise. At first the kiss was slow and sweet, but soon enough it turned into passionate and deep kisses. Jace grabbed Clary by the waist and she wrapped her legs around his lap. Jace turned around and pressed Clary's back against the wall. Clary's hands traveled along his toned biceps to his muscular chest. She ran them against his flat stomach and back up into his soft hair. A small moan escaped her lips as Jace begun trailing small butterfly kisses along her jaw to her collarbone. He moved back to her mouth and deepened the kiss. All of a sudden a loud crash could be heard from away._

 _Jace set Clary down and looked around, searching for the origin of the sound. A car was completely smashed against another car nearby. Clary could immediately recognize the car and her expression went blank. She started sprinting towards the two cars. When she reached them, she tried yanking the car door open, but nothing would happen. The car was completely wrecked and once she saw Jocelyn and Luke at the front seats, her mind went black._

"It was all my fault" Clary said to Izzy, who was sitting on the booth opposite to her. "If I weren't there with Jace and would have walked home with my parents, they wouldn't have driven the car, therefore they wouldn't have crashed. Me and Jace could have been together and Jonathan wouldn't have had to leave. I would be living with my mom and Luke every other week and with Valentine every other. I would be happy leaving for college and seeing Jace again. But now I can't even think of him without feeling guilty about the night." Clary was sobbing at this point and Izzy had grabbed her hand to comfort her.

"You know it's not your fault. And it isn't Jace's either. It's the drunk driver's fault who crashed to your mom's and Luke's car. And you know that. Do not blame yourself on this. There is nothing you could have done." Izzy felt so bad for Clary. She had lost almost everything. Her mom, Luke, Jace and Jonathan. Everyone she had left she had pushed away. Izzy was happy for her finally opening up and talking about it though.

"Why did they take a car anyway? It was so near. Why did they have to be so stupid?" Clary whined crying. She really missed mom and Luke. And Jace. And Jonathan. She really wanted to see Jace but at the same time she didn't. She would have to face him soon enough though. And she thinks that she's finally ready for it.

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Can we go home now? I want to go to sleep. I'm meeting Simon tomorrow and I need energy for that," Clary asked.

"Sure," Izzy replied, helping Clary up. They walked back to the apartment and talked about the accident and Jace until Clary went to bed. Tonight Clary could actually fall asleep happy, realizing that she had gotten her best friend by her side. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all and maybe things will get better. Thank god she had Izzy.

 **A/N**

 **There it is! I'm sorry the ending was a little bit rushed. I had to get this done pretty quickly since I have a busy day. Review please! I'll be updating again tomorrow or on the weekend.**

 **Love, your sarcastic Herondale.**

 **PS! I'm looking for a beta reader for this story so if you're interested, PM me!**


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